


Fisherman's Friend

by Curlyhurlyburly



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Humanstuck, M/M, Mermaidstuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-18
Updated: 2013-07-25
Packaged: 2017-12-15 09:06:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/847749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Curlyhurlyburly/pseuds/Curlyhurlyburly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Poor fisherman Karkat Vantas finds something very unexpected at the end of his line.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

The sun was hot, descending fast into the Mediterranean sea. It turned the water orange from the horizon to the coast. A young man lounged in his small wooden fishing boat, a fat white cat curled on his abdomen. The young man, a Spaniard, was a fisherman from the coast of Spain. He spent his idle time in a houseboat at the docks, and his working time far out on the water, catching fish. While really all his time was idle, the time out alone with his feline companion was truly his favorite. There was no feeling like being relaxed and alone. His fishing rod tucked between his torso and elbow, resting on his shoulder and over the edge of the boat, the young man was waiting for a fish to catch itself. It had been a very long week and his dinner for the evening was no rushed issue. The cat on his lap stretched subconsciously, flexing its short legs in and out across the young man’s shirt. And the young man stretched his own legs back and forth, scraping his boots against the wood of the boat. Neither lazing creature was very lucid when the fishing line became taut.  
Karkat Vantas was a good fisherman. He had fine-tuned fishing instincts. Even in his half-sleep, his muscles tightened to grasp the pole. It was only when the pole began to slide up and out of his arms that Karkat stirred, jumping onto his haunches to keep the thing in place. His cat was knocked onto the deck. 

“I’m sorry,” Karkat told the feline as it stretched out its back. He was still trying to reel in whatever was on the other end of his line. It was extremely heavy, or very resilient at least. It quickly became apparent that this would be no easy catch. 

Karkat’s opponent tugged hard on the line, bringing the end of the rod down to meet the water. Karkat struggled to unbend the pole, for fear of it snapping. And he succeeded in keeping the pole in one piece, at the cost of the line being the thing to snap. The pole ricocheted back, Karkat along with it, and he fell onto his ass on the deck of the boat. His cat leapt up to avoid him, meowing loudly in discontent. 

“Augh, shit!” Karkat hissed. He sat up and returned to the edge of the boat to see if he could catch the culprit. But alas, the fish had disappeared with his bait. The hook was probably still through its lip. Karkat groaned. A dying fish at least had the decency to hop into his mouth. To add insult to injury, the crew on a nearby commercial ship had been watching. They were having a good laugh about the whole thing. 

“Ey, fuck off,” Karkat snarled. In Spanish of course. 

“No cussing!” One of the men shouted back. They were English. Karkat spoke the language, but he really liked swearing, and it was so much easier in his mother tongue. 

“This isn’t your water!” Karkat reminded them. Commercial ships were normally resigned to the other side of the harbor. This area was for leisure (and a poor man’s daily dollar.)

“Ney,” One of the men agreed, “It’s the fish’s!” 

“Yeah, I’m gonna fish out your eye,” Karkat retorted. The man chuckled. With a heavy sigh, Karkat started up the motor on the back of his dingy and headed home. He had no hook for further fishing. 

Karkat’s houseboat was anchored to an isolated pier, within walking distance of the market where he sold his fish. The dock was peppered with barnacles and held a familiar salty scent. It was always nice to come home once the sun started to set. 

“We’re home, Dios,” Karkat told the feline. The cat hopped out of the boat and onto the dock as Karkat tied the boat up. As Dios slinked through the houseboat window and into Karkat’s bedroom, Karkat pulled out all his fishing gear to take inside. He would have to head into town the next morning for some new hooks and bait, seeing as the last of which was now gone. He’d also have to look into those large boats clogging the area. See what he could do to get the Englishmen out. But for the time being, he heated up some instant macaroni before reluctantly retiring to bed. 

 

The market, as it was on any Sunday morning, was relatively empty. The commercial boats in the harbor were cleared out, so he could relax for a while. In the meantime, he found his usual trading posts to get fishhooks and bait. 

“Going fishing today, Vantas?” The old salesman asked as he rung up Karkat’s purchase, lazy eye lolling in its socket . 

“More than likely,” Karkat sighed. “I didn’t catch anything yesterday. Why?” 

The old man smirked. That old coot was always up to something. 

“I’ve heard some rumours,” He said in a hushed voice, leaning over the counter. No one else was in the store, but he stuck to his mystery-guns. “That out over the reefs, there’s been some strange happenings. Things have been getting-“ He paused, then in a louder voice continued, “DRAGGED underwater.” 

“Yeah, I ran into one of them the other day by the boardwalk. Probably some massive fish, and it snatched my hook.” 

The old man paused, shaking his head in confusion. 

“Mm, no no, not by the boardwalk. The reefs. And they’re not fish. Something… BIGGER.” He paused again, pointing his finger at Karkat. “Were you at the reef end of the boardwalk?” 

“I wasn’t that far out,” Karkat answered. The old man pursed his lips. 

“The must be coming in,” He mused. “Better sound the alarm.” He smirked again as he handed Karkat’s things over. 

“Big fish,” Karkat reminded him. “That’s all they are.” 

Karkat was a seasoned fisherman, and he figured he had his head screwed on better than the guy from telltale heart. When he set off fishing, he brought normal bait and normal hooks. This time, a few spares came along as well. He and Dios set sale off into the waters. The ships were still gone, and Karkat was content to sprawl out in the boat and cast his line over the water (with diligence this time, of course) and Dios was content to sprawl out on his lap. After about a dozen fish were in his cooler, Karkat was ready to head home. Alas, his path was intercepted by a returning commercial ship. 

“Hey!” Karkat shouted. “Hey! You’re too close to me!” The ship apparently didn’t see his dingy at all. Karkat quickly pulled in his line and started the motor as the ship grew ever closer. “Hey! There’s a boat down here!” It didn’t help. Karkat shooed Dios under the middle bench of the boat and tried to leave the waterspace, but the engine was nonresponsive. Karkat turned it back off and reached down to fiddle with the rudders. They were tangled with fishing line. Karkat hissed under his breath. The fish from the day before must have done that. Suddenly the water beneath the boat was heavy and churning. Karkat turned to watch the commercial ship come within a meter or two of his boat. He yelled again, desperately trying to untangle his motor, but the water kept sloshing violently at his boat. Finally he gave up and scrambled to secure whatever he could before grabbing an ore and jamming it against the ship, trying to manually push the boat away. Dios was meowing loudly and Karkat was sick with panic. If the ship turned much further they’d be shredded. The pull of the water was sucking the boat in and under, and the deck was quickly filling. And suddenly, a rush of water and heavy objects met swiftly with Karkat’s cranium, robbing him of his consciousness.

When Karkat opened his eyes, his head was throbbing. The sun hurt his eyes, so he squeezed them shut, only to be met with more pain. 

“Dios,” He called weakly, hands groping blindly at the wet planks around him. “Ay, dios mio.” 

To his great relief, a familiar tongue, surrounded by familiar fur, found his hand. Karkat rolled over, only to be met with a shaky foundation. He slowly reopened his eyes. It was quickly apparent that they were in unfamiliar waters. It was very dark, very deep. Far from the coast and surrounded by small island structures. Karkat groaned weakly, clutching his temple as he searched the boat. His pole and hooks were still there, but all his bait was gone. Which was very, very strange. He looked over the side to find something very large missing from the boat, but he couldn’t quite figure out what. Until his brain finally clicked and told him that the entire motor was gone. Karkat was in total disbelief. But that could not compare to the shock he got when he turned again, and a pair of hands was clawing over the side of the boat. 

“Christ!” Karkat shouted. The hands pulled up a body, long hair wet and plastered to a face, topped off with a large, gaping mouth full of pointed teeth. It was a woman, chest bare and skin greyed. Karkat located the oar and swung it at her, knocking her from the boat. Dios hissed. Karkat carefully looked over the side to see if she was coming back up. By the time he looked back, another discoloured woman was halfway in the boat, having a hissing contest with Dios. Karkat knocked her in the head, causing her to cry out. Her legs joined her inside the boat, or, rather, whatever took the place of her legs. Red, scaled appendages with a matching fin on each. Karkat nearly fainted. Instead, he swung at her again, pushing Dios back. She threw her arms over her head and flopped backwards until she could fall back into the water. The boat swayed, and Karkat ran to find a few of the creatures pushing at the bottom. 

“Get off!” He shouted. “Leave me alone! You already took all my stuff!” 

The creatures continued pushing. They almost looked… normal. Like they were just people that had gone for a swim. That and the tails at the bottom. Karkat tried to pry them off with the oar, but to no avail. Between the time it had taken for the ordeal to begin till that moment, clouds had taken up the sky and rain as beginning to pour. 

“Food!” One girl clamoured. 

“It’s gone!” Karkat told her. “You took it.” One of the girls tried again to climb up. She was crying loudly. 

“Help!” She cried. Karkat was about to hit her off of the boat, but couldn’t bring himself to. The girl looked at him with massive black eyes. “Help us.” Karkat stepped back. The loud hum of a motor boat approached, and he turned to find a speed boat coming his way. He began to frantically wave his arms. 

“Hey! Over here! Help!” He shouted. The creatures in the water shrieked. The speedboat circled around them. 

“No!” The one in the boat cried. “No!” Out of nowhere, a shot rang out. The girl flopped to the deck, the water around her turning red. Karkat felt himself go pale. A man on the speedboat aimed a rifle at Karkat’s dingy. 

“Wait!” Karkat shouted. Another shot, and the water around the boat turned red as well. Dios was hissing and crying and meowing and jumping about. The creatures gave another heave and turned the dingy over, Karkat and Dios along with it. Karkat felt flesh against his, grabbing him and pulling him down. He tried to scream only to be met with lungfuls of water. Everything in front of his eyes was red.

 

When Karkat awoke again, he was soaked to the bone and lying in a boat sloshing with water. He scrambled up to look around himself. The boat had drifted to a small island of rocks, even further from the coast. Memories of what had brought him here flooded Karkat’s head. They had been dragged under… the boat was tipped… Dios…

“Dios?” Karkat called. “Dios?” He leaned over the edge of the boat, hoping the cat had somehow managed not to drown. Karkat felt a stinging in his throat. There was no way the cat had managed to get into the boat when it tipped back; he didn’t even know how he did it himself. 

“Dios? Where are you?” 

'Miaow'

Karkat whirled around to find Dios, wet and shaking under the middle bench. 

“Oh thank god, Karkat breathed, crouching down by his cat and stroking its ears. Karkat was sure they were saved; free from mermaids or mermen or merwhatevers and free from crazy guys with guns. But Karkat’s eye found a mistake in the divine plan of survival. Beyond the bench, in the end of the boat, lay a boy. A boy perhaps Karkat’s age, with black hair and peachy skin, sleeping in the shallow water of the boat.


	2. Two

Karkat tried to scoop Dios into his arms, but the cat jumped towards the sleeping stranger. The boy stirred when Dios began to inspect him. He smiled, lightly pushing Dios away, before opening his eyes. Upon seeing the cat, he jumped back with a yelp. Dios’ ears fell flat. The boy then looked up at Karkat. He was clearly just about ready to have a heart attack. He quickly looked around before jumping out of the boat and disappearing into the water. Karkat watched him go, blue-scaled legs and all. At this point the encounter didn’t even seem out of the ordinary. Karkat was really only concerned about getting home with no motor and now no oar.

“Hello?”  Karkat turned his head to see the boy reemerging from the water a distance away, apparently looking for someone. He went under again before coming up somewhere else out in the water. “Hello?!” Karkat tried to ignore the wayward creature, seeing if he could reach out to the rocks and push the boat away from them. “Is anyone out there?!”

“No,” Karkat mumbled under his breath. He reached out his arm, clutching the edge of his dingy. After nearly falling out, he tried to weakly paddle the boat closer. Slowly, the boat came up to the rocks. Karkat reached out again and gave a mighty push, sending him barley two yards away. He cursed under his breath, searching the boat for a stray plank he could use as a makeshift oar. Dios whined quietly under the bench. After finding nothing with which to paddle back home, Karkat flopped down in the boat. He would wait until the boat floated somewhere on its own, or he would rot in the damned thing. Easy peasy. Dios seemed to have come to the same conclusion, climbing up onto Karkat’s lap and curling up to sleep.

“They’re gone.”

Karkat glanced over his shoulder to see the mermaid boy staring miserably at the water around him. Hopefully, if Karkat took a quick nap, the kid would be gone.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Wakeup.”

Karkat woke up not an hour later. The black-haired boy was leaning into the boat.

“Hi there.” The boy said. Karkat frowned.

“Alright, no way. Get lost,” He snapped. The boy drooped his head, eyeing Karkat like a lost kitty.

“Listen, mister,” He said slowly. Karkat sat up, knocking Dios over. The cat shook itself awake and resumed glaring at the mermaid.

“Nope. Nuh-uh. Get. Lost. You freaks took my food, my motor, pretty much everything I needed to survive. I’m gonna die out here, thanks very much. Fucking scram.”

The boy chewed on his lip.

“We were trying to get away from that hunter,” the boy said softly. “We thought you were one of them too. But your stuff was different. And we were starving. They’re trying to kill us out here.”

“You took. My motor!” Karkat hissed.

“They were scared! They’re dumb creatures, okay?”

“What do you mean _them_?” Karkat snarled. “You’re one of them!” The boy paused. He shrank back.

“They left me behind,” He muttered. “Because I like humans and I’m a slow swimmer.” Karkat took a deep breath. The kid looked like he was tearing up. “Look, I’m sorry we killed you or whatever. I can push your boat back to shore. I’m just really tired and upset and I just need to rest.”

“You don’t know where I live. You’ll get us lost,” Karkat told him. The boy shook his head.

“I know where you live,” He said. “Sometimes I hang out around your boat in the gulf. But I had to leave because of those massive hunting boats.”

“You mean the ships?” Karkat asked. “Wait, are they all trying to fish you… things?” The boy nodded.

“That’s what they want in the Mediterranean.”

Karkat twisted his mouth in thought.

“I’ll negotiate something with you if you told me which fish snapped my line yesterday,” he offered. The boy’s eyes widened a bit before he laughed sheepishly.

“Um,” He mumbled, reaching his arm over the edge of the boat and showing the deep fishing-hook-gash in his forearm. “Oops.”

“Oh my fucking god. No way. I’m not helping you,” Karkat hissed. The boy began to shake.   


“No no I’m sorry! I just.. I was just… I didn’t mean to snap the line! I’m sorry, it just really hurt! You’ll die without my help!” He pleaded.

“Yeah you’ll die too. Don’t you regret fucking with my boat?” Karkat retorted, The boy was crying at this point.

“Please please I’m sorry I’m so sorry I’ll do anything,” He bawled.

“Just get in the boat,” Karkat groaned.

“I’ll find you new lines, I-wait, what?”

“Get in the boat!” Karkat repeated. The boy lit up, scrambling into the boat.

“Thank you thank you thank you thank you!” he cried. “Oh my god you have no idea I was so scared.”

“Just calm down, okay?”Karkat told him. Dios was getting all riled up at the mermaid’s presence. “You’re upsetting my cat.”

“I’m sorry,” the boy said softly, reaching out his hands for Dios to inspect.

“What’s your name?” Karkat asked.

“My name is Jonathan, John for short,” The mermaid told him. “What’s yours?”

“Karkat Vantas,” Karkat answered. “So… you’re like, a mermaid?” John nodded. “But you have two leg… fin… finlegs.” John smirked.

“Yes. How do you think I piss?”

“I don’t know!” Karkat huffed. “How do fishes piss?”

“Not the way I do!” John laughed.

“Ew, stop,” Karkat whined. John smiled, having successfully won Dios over. He stroked the cat’s ears.

“Sorry,” He said.

“So all those other mermaids just left you behind?” Karkat asked. John nodded, smile dissipating.

“Yeah. They told me before that if they needed to, they’d leave me behind. I’m slow so I’d attract more predators. They also thought I’d affiliate with them.”

“Because you like humans?” Karkat asked. John nodded again.

“You’re very cool, you know. You can walk around on land and go wherever you want. You know land is different everywhere, Water is always the same.”

“So they thought you’d rat them out,” Karkat continued.

“Yes.”

“I know a thing or two about being abandoned, you know,” Karkat said idly. John raised his head, listening carefully now.

“You do?” He asked. Karkat nodded.

“Yep. My family was big, full of kids. But my family still put me up for adoption.”

“I don’t know what the means,” John told him. Karkat paused.

“Oh. Well. They gave me up. As an infant. Gave me away. And then no one would take me. So I grew up alone.”

John was leaning in.

“What was wrong with you?” He asked. “Were you weak? Or stupid?”

Karkat tried not to take offence.

“No. I was healthy and everything. I don’t know why no one wanted me. Maybe I was just such a miserable little shit.”

“They didn’t want you because you were sad?” John asked, voice dripping with confusion. Karkat shrugged. “You seem perfectly fine to me!” John insisted. “You seem pretty great, in fact!”

“You’ll get sick of me pretty fast,” Karkat disagreed. John shook his head.

“You saved my life,” He reminded him. “You saved me even though I wrecked your stuff. Look, I’m totally trash, okay? As soon as you get home feel free to kick me to the curb. But you’re a good person! You’ll be fine!”

“You’re trash because you’re weak and you like people? Cmon that’s bullcrap,” Karkat argued. John stared at him for a moment.

“We come from very different places, Karkat,” John said quietly. “Maybe we’re just stuck somewhere in between.”

The two boys fell silent while Dios purred against John’s hands.  After a few minutes, John spoke up.   


“Can I sleep with you?”

Karkat choked on his own tongue. John sat back in fear as Karkat coughed and sputtered madly.

“WHAT?”

John gulped. Dios looked between the two while Karkat caught his breath.

“Slow down,” He wheezed. “Elaborate.”

“May I…” John began slowly, stepping around the eggshells that Karkat was made of. “Hold onto you… while I… sleep?”

“Christ,” Karkat breathed.

“It’s just that I get really lonely,” John explained.

“Yes, fine,” Karkat said quickly. “Do whatever. Oh my god.”

John carefully made his way over and curled up against Karkat, clutching his torso.

“Don’t you need to stay wet?” Karkat asked.

“We’re sitting in a boat full of water,” John replied.

“Right.”

As the sun disappeared behind the horizon, John fell asleep against Karkat’s side. Karkat couldn’t sleep. Instead, he idly patted Dios and tried to calm himself down from a hellish day. After he got bored, the wet young man at his side grasped his attention. Karkat looked him up and down. He was small in stature, skinny in size, all-around less athletic looking than the things that attacked the boat earlier. His skin looked normal; it had the same warm brown tone as Karkats, though much, much lighter and pinker. He looked tired and cold, but comfortable next to the stranded fisherman in his pathetic little boat. Karkat carefully brushed away his damp black hair to reveal flushed cheeks.  Karkat felt warm. For the first time, someone was clinging onto him with a smile on their face. Someone was smiling because of him. It was sort of incredible. Karkat sighed and stretched his feet out. He hadn’t even realized his boots were gone. Eventually Karkat became too tired and fell asleep as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woops this chapter is twice as long as the first one  
> Thanks for reading. Stay tuned ehhh


	3. Three

The boat was moving when Karkat awoke. The sun was rising, and John was in the water, pushing the boat along.

“Are you sure you know the way?” Karkat asked.

“Good morning,” John replied. “Yes. I have a very good sense of direction in the water.”

“How long have you been stalking me?”

John paled. His eyes were fixed on the horizons.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’ve been following me and hanging around my boat,” Karkat reminded him. John remained silent. Karkat shuffled past Dios, who was still sleeping, and grabbed John’s wrist. He indicated the gash. “You got this because you were right under my boat.” John briefly glared at him before snatching his arm back and diving down under water. Karkat leapt up, looking to see where he had gone. “John?” he called. “I thought you were gonna push the boat back, you ass!”

“You’re the ass!” John called back, appearing some distance away. “Good luck staying alive!”

“You too, John!” Karkat yelled. “Good luck staying alive to you too!” Karkat sat down and waited for a minute.

 

“I wasn’t stalking you,” John said softly, coming up to grip the edge of the boat. He slowly resumed pushing. “I just find humans really interesting, alright?”

“How many other boats have you barnacled on?” Karkat asked, attempting a less frustrated tone of voice. John frowned, cheeks turning pink.

“Plenty,” He said.

“Describe them,” Karkat told him. John paused.

“They’ve got paintings of crabs on them,” He mumbled.

“Oh,” Karkat said, leaning over the boat and tapping on the side. “You mean like this painting of a crab that’s unique to this boat?”

“They’re stupid and brown!” John added.

“Oh, you mean stupid and brown sort of like this one? Like this unique boat I’m in right now?” Karkat pressed. John was glaring again. “You’re obsessed with me,” Karkat mused. John ducked down and started to heave the boat up with his shoulders, tipping it to one side. “Hey! Hey!” Karkat yelped. Dios meowed loudly. “You’re gonna kill my cat!”

“You don’t care if I kill you?” John asked, letting the boat down.

“Be my guest,” Karkat answered. John quickly climbed into the boat and grabbed Karkat by the collar of his shirt. Pulling him in, John opened his mouth wide to reveal several rows of pointed teeth. “Holy shit!” Karkat shouted. “Oh my god holy shit!” Dios was hissing. John grew closer, lightly grasping Karkat’s neck with his fangs. “Ooooh my god,” Karkat wheezed.

John began to laugh. The vibrations rang through Karkat’s throat. John eased back, loosening his grip on Karkat and laughing loudly. Karkat shoved him away.

“What the hell!” He quipped. John laughed relentlessly. “get off the boat get off the boat get off the boat!” Karkat snapped, shoving john overboard. John continued laughing in the water, though it had died down to a fit of the giggles.

“Gosh, Karkat,” John laughed. “You really are something.”

“Why do you even like humans?” Karkat asked, wiping the water off of his face. John stopped laughing.   
  
“Humans?” He said, getting back on track with the boat. “Humans are… fascinating. They can’t breathe underwater but they can swim. They can go anywhere and nothing really gets in their way. They have cool legs… and no scales… and they’re good to each other. I don’t know. I think they’re great.”

Karkat snorted, earning a frown from John.

“Wow. You’ve got it wrong,” He said. “Humans are fucking awful. Nothing gets in their way because they destroy everything. Humans are ugly and gross, too. And they are not good to each other, nor are they great. In the water, things kill each other to survive. Up on land, people kill each other and hurt each other and fucking rob the innocence of each other and toss each other aside just because it suits them. We’re terrible, degenerate things that really shouldn’t exist at all.”

John had stopped pushing the boat and had fallen silent.

“Karkat,” He said softly. “Will you toss me aside when we get to your home?” Karkat took a deep breath.

“No,” He answered. “I’m too selfish and cowardly.”

John was silent for another moment.

“Will you hurt me, when it suits you?” He asked.

“Yes,” Karkat answered. “That’s just my nature.”

Karkat was sure John hadn’t heard the story of the hapless scorpion. But when he saw the look on John’s face, he knew the message stung just as badly.

A silence fell for a good while after that. John silently pushed the boat while Karkat kept Dios at ease. Eventually Karkat’s stomach began to rumble. He was just about as pissed off as a person could get at that point.

“How far are we?” He asked.

“We might have to stop one more night,” John answered. “I’m exhausted.” Karkat was about to start complaining when he turned to glance at John. The boy’s eyes were sunken in. He looked pale, and his lips were turning blue. Suddenly, John let go of the boat and sank underwater.

“John?” Karkat called, looking around the boat. “Are you dead? Oh my god, come back up here!”

John reemerged, throwing two fish onto the desk of the boat. Karkat jumped back as Dios pounced on them.

“I thought you had died,” Karkat breathed. John laughed weakly. “Get in the boat, you idiot.” He gently helped the frail boy into the boat, splashing some water in after him. “You caught fish,” Karkat said, taking the corpses away from Dios. John nodded.

“I’m trying to win your favour,” He said. “So that it won’t suit you to hurt me.” Karkat sighed.

“I don’t _want_ to hurt you, John.”

“I know,” John assured him. Karkat knew he still didn’t trust him. “Here, have one.”

“It’s raw,” Karkat remarked, handing one to John. John nodded again.

“Yes, it’s very fresh,” he said, a grin spreading across his face. His teeth jutted out like small knives.

“You know humans die from eating raw stuff,” Karkat added. John rolled his eyes, grin dropping to twist into a pout.

“Which part do humans like?” He asked. “The flesh?” Karkat nodded. John carefully ripped the fish open, separating the chunks of flesh from the guts and scales. He gave the innards to Dios and handed the flesh to Karkat.

“You don’t have to win me over,” Karkat said, inspecting the flesh between his fingers.

“Sure I do,” John replied, taking the remaining fish and gnawing on it.

“You want me to like you,” Karkat suggested. “Because I’m a human.” John blushed visibly.

“That isn’t true,” He retorted.

“You are a terrible liar,” Karkat teased. John pouted before eating his fish. Karkat sat back and ate his own, grateful for the food. When John was done he crawled over to Karkat and wrapped his arms around him, apparently assuming he was entitled to do so now. Karkat idly scooped water onto him, watching Dios pick the fish bones that were left. John slept, but Karkat didn’t follow suit this time. He felt incredibly uneasy, and stayed awake to watch the sea turn dark to match the sky. To calm his nerves, Karkat softly sang a naval song he had heard more than one time from English Fishermen. Though he had always liked the tune of it, it had never been even slightly relevant until now.

_“Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish Ladies,_

_Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain;_

_For we've received orders for to sail for…very far away_

_And we may never see you fair ladies again.”_

He paused, rubbing the top of Dios’s ears.

“Or should I say ‘adios?’” He asked. The cat purred under his hand.

Karkat continued to sing until both creatures around him were smiling in their own dumb animal ways. The night proceeded silently, and without disturbance.


	4. Four

“Wake up, sleepy!”

The giddy words were accompanied by a splash of water. Karkat jolted up with a yelp, startling Dios as well. John laughed loudly. He was in the water, splashing about.

“You’re going home today!”

“Yeah and my cat is going to cat heaven today,” Karkat groaned. “Or cat hell. Who knows where he’s going. Might be useful information if you scare him half to death one more time.”

“Aw, but he loves me,” John said, reaching out his hand to the cat. Dios slowly yielded into his palm.

“Yeah, alright, what about me?” Karkat added. “Which afterlife am I headed to when you put me into cardiac arrest?” John paused, probably considering Karkat’s word choice, then smirked.

“Do I make your heart beat too hard?” He asked. Karkat leaned over the edge of the boat to scoop up some water and splash it directly into John’s face. John laughed obnoxiously.

“Take me home already!” Karkat demanded. John opened his mouth to reveal a toothy smile before snapping his bear-trap jaw shut, with a loud _clack!_ “You’re not gonna bite me, fishboy,” Karkat chastised, sitting back down and accepting Dios into his lap. John circled the boat and got a grip on the edge.

“Maybe I’ll nibble you a little,” He said under his breath as they began their final stretch to the coast.

 

The coast was not far off. The only reason it had taken them so long was because John was, as he had promised, a poor swimmer and weak mermaid in general.

Karkat shielded his eyes against the sun, scanning for tankers and ships as they neared the harbor. It was empty of anything beyond fishing boats for the time being.

“We have to be careful that people don’t see you here,” Karkat told John. John nodded, taking the initiative to sink lower into the water. Karkat reached out and grabbed the dock as they came up beside it, helping John pull the boat in. Dios immediately leapt onto the dock, rolling forward onto the hot wooden planks. Karkat was quick behind him, groaning with relief when he felt the solid surface beneath his feet.  While Karkat and Dios reveled in the feeling of being off of the water, John waited silently by the dock, submerged to his nose.

“Ffffuck yes,” Karkat said loudly. “Oh my god I need to take a fucking break from the water. I’m going to bathe in koolaid and drink nothing but Soda.” After a minute, John came a little closer to the dock.

“I guess this is where I say goodbye,” He said softly. Karkat stopped making a complete ass of himself for a moment. He crouched at the edge of the dock in front of John.

“What? You’re ditching me? After all of our hapless adventures together?”

John frowned.

“You don’t really want me hanging around,” He replied, half asking and half telling Karkat.

“You’re not really gonna leave,” Karkat said, just as ambivalent. John’s mouth sank further under the water, but his eyes crinkled into telltale smile lines.

“So you want me to stay?”

Karkat nodded. John’s smile lifted out of the water.

“Alright, I could just hang out in the shallows here.”

“The sun’s gonna set, and those boats could come back any time,” Karkat reminded him. John’s smile became a toothy grin.

“What are you suggesting?”

Karkat rolled his eyes.

“Get up here,” He commanded, reaching his arm out. John hardly hesitated. Karkat looked around very quickly to search for onlookers as he pulled John onto the dock. His blue-scaled appendages sparkled in the sunlight, and shook like that of a baby deer. Karkat ushered him onto his houseboat and into the bathtub. John giggled madly while Karkat poured water into the tub.

“You’re soaking me,” Karkat complained, John’s webbed feet splashing up and down in the water.

“Woops,” John laughed.

“I’m going to fucking fry you,” Karkat threatened. John only continued laughing. Once the tub was full and John was resting comfortably, Karkat put a piece of spare sheet metal against the outside window of the bathroom. He poked his head through the window.   
  
“Alright, see this? If you to leave just climb out and hop onto this, okay? Right into the water.” John nodded, eyes becoming heavily lidded. Karkat went around and came back inside. “Are you hungry?” He asked. John leaned against the side of the tub.

“Why are you suddenly so hospitable?” He asked, smiling weakly. Karkat sighed dramatically and sat on the edge of the tub.

“You sorta saved my life,” He explained. “No great big deal though.” John chuckled. “Do you want anything to eat?”

“I’m hungry,” John said. “But I think I’m too tired to eat.” Karkat eyed him over.

“You really are a wimp, huh?” John nodded. “I’ll get you something and we’ll see if you can manage to down it.” Karkat got up and went to the kitchen of his houseboat. He had missed his home, but he didn’t have much opportunity to get used to it with a stranger in it. It was nothing sentimental to rummage through the cupboards. When he returned to John, the kid had his eyes closed and his head lolling sideways on the side of the bathtub.

“I couldn’t find anything fishy that wasn’t rancid, basically all I have is fish stock.”

John hummed quietly.

“Are you going to sleep? After all of my efforts?” Karkat teased. John hummed again. He reached out and took the cup in karkat’s hands, sipping on it with his eyes still closed. He grimaced.

“This is weird,” He said.

“Yeah sorry I’m not a 5 star sushi chef,” Karkat quipped. John smirked.

“I don’t know what that is,” he said.

“Of course you don’t,” Karkat retorted. John knocked back some more soup before finding the floor and setting the cup down. Dios silently slipped into the bathroom and hopped onto Karkat’s shoulders. “Do you want to sleep?” Karkat asked. John nodded. “Should I turn off the light?” John briefly opened his eyes before nodding again. Karkat stood up, careful not to let Dios fall. “Alright bye.”

“Wait,” John said. “I can’t sleep alone, Karkat.” Karkat blanched.

“Seriously?” He asked. “Do I have to crawl in there with you?” John shook his head.

“Can you just stay in this room?” He asked. Karkat frowned.

“This is a bathroom,” He pointed out.

“Okay?”

Karkat rolled his eyes as visibly as possible.

“Fine. Give me one minute.”

Karkat grabbed a bunch of now musty-smelling blankets and pillows from his bedroom and piled them on the floor next to the bathtub, settling down in them. Dios curled up in his lap.

“Goodnight John,” Karkat said quietly.

“Goodnight,” John replied. The following silence only lasted a few minutes. “Karkat?”

Karkat hummed low in his throat.

“Could you sing again?”

“Can I what?”

“Sing again,” John repeated. “Like on the boat. You sang and it was beautiful.” Karkat stopped to remember what John as referring to.

“I thought you were asleep,” He said.

“I wasn’t,” John informed him. Karkat reached out of his blankets to rub his temples. He groaned into his hands.

“Okay. What’s your favorite song?” He asked.

“Oh.” John mumbled. “Um. Mermaids don’t really have songs. Well, they sing to communicate sometimes.” Karkat noted the way John was talking about mermaids like he wasn’t one of them, yet again. “But I’ve never heard words like that. Sung like that. With emotion and stuff.”

“Yeah, I’m a fucking poet,” Karkat sneered. “Okay, so I need to be feeling some emotions. Make me feel something and I’ll sing my heart out. Right out. I’ll cough it up and present it to you” John chuckled.

“How can I make you feel anything but anger?” He asked. Karkat sighed.

“You don’t even make me that angry,” He said.

“You coulda fooled me,” John responded, voice wavering. Karkat swallowed hard.

“I don’t mean to come off this way,” He offered, trying to tone down his voice. “It’s just the way I am.”

“Yeah, I know,” John said, “It’s just your nature.” Karkat groaned loudly and rolled onto his side, turning away from John.

“Here’s a song for you: Go to sleep go to sleep go to sleep you awful houseguest get some god-damned rest sweet dreams tiny baby child who can’t sleep on his own goodniiiiiiiight.”

John laughed melodically.

“Goodnight, Karkat,” He said. “You’re actually a really nice guy, you know.”

“You’re just saying that because I’m not a mermaid. And apparently mermaids are terrible, shitty, awful creatures that just abandon you for no good reason,” Karkat grumbled. But John had already gone silent. Karkat buried his face into his pillow and tried to sleep.

 

The next morning was hotter than the last had been, despite the fact that Karkat was indoors today. Karkat pressed his face to the bathtub as he slowly sat up, relishing the cool porcelain against his skin. He peeked over the edge, expecting to find John, but instead only finding old water.

“John?”

Karkat sat up, stretching his feet and yawning loudly. An icy shock ran up Karkat’s spine when his toes made contact with water. Upon examination, a trail of small puddles had been left from the tub to the window. Karkat went outside and peered out over the water.

“John?”

He went outside to the deck of the boat. John was swimming idly back and forth around the boat.

“Good morning,” He said brightly.

“I thought you had already gotten sick of me and ditched,” Karkat told him, leaning on the edge of the boat.

“Nah,” John responded. “I’ve got nowhere to go.”

A tense silence hovered for a minute before Karkat did the honor of breaking it.

“Are you hungry?” He asked. John nodded. “Are you gonna catch some fish?”

“I want some more human food,” John replied. Karkat sighed loudly.

“I’ve been lost at sea for a while. I’d have to go get some human food first.”

“Oh right, you were gone,” John recalled. “Hey, shouldn’t you let your friends know you’re okay?”

“Friends?” Karkat tried to snort it out mockingly but it only ended up sounding completely miserable.

“Humans have friends, don’t they?” John asked. “Companions, you know? Other humans that you are close to?”

Karkat sighed again, even louder now.

“I don’t have friends,” he spat. John immediately sank down a bit, frowning. “Basically I have no one.”

“I’m sorry,” John said quickly. “B-but hey, I’m your friend, right?” Karkat leaned over the railing of his boat.

“Sure, if you wanna shoulder that massive burden.” He mumbled.

“And… and you’re my friend too, right, Karkat?” John asked, voice small. Karkat eyed him. Neither of them were social butterflies, to say the least. Karkat folded his arms and placed his chin atop them.

“Yeah, okay,” He answered. John grinned madly. “Hey, how about you catch some fish and I’ll cook it human-style. We can compromise.”

“Alright!” John agreed, diving to catch their breakfast. Karkat groaned into his hands. It had been a very long few days.

When John returned with three hefty fish, Karkat fried them with ‘human’ seasoning and ate with John and Dios in the bathroom. John was in euphoria. He had never tasted anything so delicious in his life, apparently.

“Karkat,” John said, licking his fingers absently, “How long am I going to stay with you?”

Karkat shrugged.

“As long as you need,” He answered.

“Need for what?” John asked. Karkat shrugged again.

“That’s for you to decide,” He said. John leaned back in the tub, twisting his mouth back and forth.

“Karkat,” He said slowly. “Do you find me… gross, or weird, or… um, grotesque?”

“No,” Karkat said. “No, you’re not gross. You’re just different. Like I’m just different to you.” John nodded thoughtfully.

“Most humans would be weirded out by me,” He said. Karkat shrugged.

“I was pretty freaked out at first, but you seem normal enough to me,” He replied. John smirked.

“That’s interesting. Because to other mermaids, I’m not normal at all.”

“Well isn’t that just how the world works,” Karkat mused. John nodded again.

“…Karkat,” His voice had grown even quieter. “I have a confession to make.”

“What is it?” Karkat asked, wary. John pressed his fingertips together, and his webbed toes against the end of the bathtub.

“Um,” John mumbled, fingers beginning to shake in the tension he was putting between them. Or perhaps they were shaking all on their own. “I know It seems like I’m obsessed with humans… and I know humans aren’t that great, but, um, you,” John took a deep breath. Karkat couldn’t possibly imagine what he was trying to say.

“John?” He asked after a full 30 seconds of hesitation, thinking maybe something horrifying and mermaid-related was about to happen. But John merely slumped down, shoulders curling.

“I’m in love with you.”

Karkat blanched.

“Oh,” He said, shocked, “Oh,” quieter the second time. He swallowed hard, took a minute to compose himself while John watched him with unyielding eyes.

“That’s… that’s unfortunate,” He said.

“Unfortunate?” John asked quickly.

“I mean… is it… have you ever loved anyone before?” Karkat asked, juggling with his words. John shook his head. “It’s unfortunate that your first love is unrequited,” Karkat told him. John’s face fell.

“Unrequited?” He echoed. Karkat nodded. “Is… is it because I’m not a human?” Karkat tried to answer but John was rapid-firing questions, voice becoming choked, “Because I’m freaky, or because I don’t know a lot, or am I stupid, or annoying?”

“No,” Karkat interrupted before he could continue. “There isn’t anything wrong with you, John. Sometimes people just don’t fall in love with _eachother,_ okay?”

John’s lip almost looked like it was quivering. He broke eye contact with Karkat and kept it broken.

“ _Oh,_ ” he said quietly.

“I’m sorry,” Karkat said, trying to keep the kid from crying. John simply shook his head. Karkat knew how to put up walls and John was doing it now.

“I’d like some time alone,” John said flatly. Karkat gave up. He got up and left the room, closing the door behind him.

“Well, fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woah yeah ha ha I haven't update in a month because of summer school. lame. but i'm gonna update this fic more often now, as well as a new johnkat fic woooah. woops okay thank you for the kudos so far!!!! ya!!


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